This is the story of two countries, two cultures, and one person in love with art and color. I will never be able to be in two places at once ... but art will transcend distance....

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

As time goes by....

“It has been said, 'time heals all
wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind,
protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain
lessens. But it is never gone.” Rose Kennedy

As I look out the window and see the
sun begin to set..I can't help but notice that there is a mysterious
hue ….Yes...I know, it is barely September...but that hue....I
tells me that~A Maria kind-of-day~ is not far away.... Some trees
are still green, and the tomatoes on the vine are promising, for weeks
to come. But I know that cooler days are ahead. And, as much as I
like Spring and Summer, I like Fall and Winter more.

So much has happened since last I
blogged. My Mother went to heaven, leaving me with a feeling of
emptiness like I have never experienced before. Shortly after, Priscilla, a
woman who graced our lives and was like a Mother to me and a grandmother to my children, also went to heaven...I mourned her passing and it added
heavily to our loss. I am blessed to have inherited an entire family
through her. She was sweet, generous and lovely.

Priscilla and Maria

Gay, Gloria, Bonnie and Priscilla, my adopted family

I was included in the wedding of Priscilla' son John and Gloria

Our tears had not yet dried when husband's dad, Cal,
left this earth. Surrounded by all his children, he took his last
breath and went to be with his beloved wife, Jennie....he was so
ready to meet her again.

Cal Neill

...And, in the blink of an eye, an entire
generation ended...

The passing of my Mother brought much
sadness to my life. Sibling relationships suffered and I hope, someday,
to reconnect when the time is right. Much happened in the years that
preceded my parents death that drained my spirit. I need time to sort
things out, but in the meantime, I have been excluded and am alone.

In February we traveled to Chile. After
the painful farewell to my Mother in Santiago, we headed to Melipilla, Chile to see my beloved cousins Maruja and Bergie. They are so sweet and always welcome us into their home and their hearts..... And we posed for family pictures under the centenarian grape vine that has seen many generations grow up, including me.

We headed to Southern Chile to
spend some time with first born Paula and her family. While there,
our son in law Cristian and husband Joe built a fancy tree
house for 4 year old Olivia, with a big slide and doors and windows. Her dad wanted the
house to be large enough to accommodate Olivia and her friends for a sleep over when she is older....

Olivia's Place

We took short trips to the beach and
the vicinities. In an effort to ease my sadness, Paula and her family treated us to a SPA in the
forest, where the hot tubs were made of large whiskey barrels and
heated with wood...All along, I knew that Mom's
life was about to end, but the SPA was healing and lovely...and it did my heart good...

Wooden hot tub in the forest

Olivia in the hot tub

Olivia in the SPA

It was nearing the end of summer in Chile and time for school to start. Olivia had her uniform ready to attend the Thomas Jefferson English Immersion Pre-Kindergarten School... (long name!)

Ready for school!

Upon returning to the US, Joe detoured
to Texas to see his Dad one more time. I continued to Oregon,
becoming quite ill. I checked into a hotel for a few days to try
and recover, visiting Urgent Care, and finding out that I had severe
otitis and sinusitis. No wonder the plane trip was so miserable.

March brought my 65th
birthday and husband surprised me with a lovely party with beloved
friends....I was serenaded by sweet friend Linda with “Forever
Young”....It was hard not to cry. What a wonderful gathering.

While trying to get our lives back in
order, son was in a serious bike accident. The kind that makes a
Mother hold her breath. He is fortunate to not have suffered long
lasting injuries, and that he has a loving fiancee that took off from
work to monitor his concussion and tend to his wounds.
Since he lives quite a distance from here, what is a desperate Mom to
do?? ... she feeds. I called a pizza place and ordered a large amount of
food to be delivered. Then I took a deep breath and waited for news. Lauren, sent me updates and pictures often, which
made this Mama very happy.

Son recovering from cycling accident.

Time has a way to move on and provide
healing. I started preparations for a long overdue knee replacement.
But as luck would have it, two days before surgery I fell and broke
the OTHER knee, postponing the scheduled procedure. As I was in the
process of mending, middle daughter suffered a miscarriage. A painful
experience to go through, physically and emotionally. My heart ached for
them. Joe and I traveled to Washington to help them for a couple of days
and returned home to prepare for visitors.

Hello!

Paula, Cristian and
Olivia, from Chile, arrived shortly after and I was blessed to have
ALL my kids and their significant others under one roof. Someday I
hope to have enough space so everyone can comfortably come and stay.
The twelve of us were rather cozy, but it all worked out.

And, as always, there is the dreaded goodbye
time.....and as quickly as they all arrived. ..they were
gone....leaving the house quiet and empty... until they return again...

They are so loved and missed!!!

I started to prepare for my long
overdue knee replacement once more, which was done on August 6th under the skilled hands of Dr. Jason Bell, an expert surgeon and also
a friend.

Dr. Bell and Maria. I may be smiling, but have no memory of this moment...

32 staples and a new knee, have no memory if this either!

He did a marvelous job, while my own physician, Dr. McAndrew, took care of the non-orthopedic aspect of recovery. I had
surgery on a Tuesday, was home by Thursday, stopped all narcotic
medications, Physical Therapy on Friday morning, dinner out on Friday
evening.

Three days after surgery, Physical Therapy with Jon Breuer, I do remember this!

Feeling much better!

I drove myself to Mc Donald's for a salad on Saturday and
then to an art show nearby. I could not have asked for a better
recovery, and a better surgeon. Blessings abound. I am now in the
process of moving forward ...literally... one a step at a time.

We have suffered much in the past few
months, individually and as a family. The healing of body and mind
has begun and we are all doing the best we can.

Now we turn our thoughts toward life
changing events, happy events ...like the upcoming marriage of our son Andrew
to his lovely fiancee Lauren. Andrew always had the “burden” of having to close chapters. The last to graduate, the last
to enter college, the last to graduate from college.....the last to
give a piano recital, and so on and so forth. I am sure that seeing
his Mama cry as each event would come to an end became a right of
passage for him. I don't even want to write about the day we left him at college! I will only tell you that he asked me to, please, leave him "outside of his dorm". I KNOW he did not want his roommates to see this Mother hanging on to her son for dear life as he tried to free himself and enter his room! He will be the last child to marry....but unlike the
other events, which were “the ends”, this is a beginning. And
while I may shed a tear or two, this time it will be from happiness.

And....

we are enjoying tomatoes from Joe's
garden and lovely summer fruits...

And the preparations for my annual
Christmas Art show have begun....

Little knits are everywhere, lists of
crafts have been made and checked twice. I only have about 10 weeks to accomplish all
that I want to make.

Beautiful story and photos. I understand your year. Having my step/adopted father pass away in the mid 80's then my adopted mom a few years ago and lost contact with 2 of my children. Like you I hope some day they will reconnect. All 4 of my children live so far away. Both my birth Dad and birth Mom are in their 90's, and Mom is not well and won't be around much longer. They live in opposite directions so far away. So sad to lose family in either way. My heart goes out to you and I ask God to bless you this Fall, winter and coming spring with Joy, Love and happiness. Valerie, a fellow artist and friend of Penny Brandon.

About Me

I was born in Vina del Mar on the coast of Chile. Grew up in the capital, Santiago, and attended the University of Chile, where I studied Physical Education and Physical Therapy. I came to US more than 35 years ago, married an American/Canadian in Houston, Texas, and moved to North Bend, on the Southern Oregon coast. My husband and I own the "Electric Hospital", a sewing machine and vacuum store. We carry long arm quilters, notions, teach classes and believe strongly in community service and giving back. We have 3 wonderful children and 5 awesome young grandchildren. Our three children are accomplished musicians, college graduates and hard workers.
My interest in the arts, painting, sewing, knitting, began in my childhood. I don't remember a time when I did not feel deeply the call to create, to paint, to sew, to knit.
I am surrounded by a wonderful family, a church that I love and a circle of friends, real, virtual and across the globe, that I treasure. I am a very lucky woman.